Tyla’s Just Getting Started

When you’re a globe-trotting pop diva, ridiculous rumors about yourself are par for the course. There’s one in particular that makes South African superstar Tyla giggle. “I’m apparently a CIA agent,” she says with dry amusement. “I’m an undercover agent in the Illuminati trying to divert people’s minds from the New World Order. That’s my favorite rumor. I’m not even mad about that one.”

But even deep-state governments couldn’t engineer a breakout as fast and as bright as the 23-year-old singer’s. With its shout-along chorus, woozy beat, and steamy music video, Tyla’s 2023 smash “Water” took over TikTok feeds around the world upon its release. Suddenly people from all walks of life were pouring H₂O on their asses while attempting the Bacardi dance, a rhythmic style from Tyla’s home country. The following year, she kept the party going with her self-titled debut album, an intoxicating mix of pop, R&B, Afrobeats, and amapiano — a subgenre of house music that originated in South African townships — perfect for pregames or lounging by the pool.

Tyla’s success was as historic as it was explosive. With “Water,” she became the first African female solo artist to reach the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. “Water” is also the most-streamed song by an African soloist in Spotify history, and it earned Tyla the inaugural Grammy Award for Best African Music Performance. Crossover status, however, was the last thing on her mind. “I never thought this was going to transcend,” Tyla says. “I feel like you can never go wrong if you’re just being true to what you feel and what you want to make. I don’t think I’m trying to force anything in or keep anything. Maybe one day I’ll make a straight pop song. You never know.”

These days, Tyla is showing up in all the right places: Sitting courtside at a Knicks game in a tank top emblazoned with the word “WET.” Stunning at the Met Gala in a sculptural Balmain gown made of sand. Slinking down the runway at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show with a pair of the brand’s iconic angel wings. She criss-crosses the globe so often, you start to understand the spy rumor. We were originally supposed to meet up in Los Angeles, but a top-secret project upended her schedule, so we eventually connect over Zoom while Tyla is in Paris for Fashion Week.

When she’s sitting front-row next to Anna Wintour at the Chanel show — in an orchid-colored remix of the brand’s classic tweed skirt suit — Tyla looks like she’s been doing this all her life. In conversation, she radiates the same magnetic cool that infuses her music — a poised confidence that feels hard-won rather than merely put-on. But on the eve of her Coachella debut, the “pretty girl from Joburg,” as she put it in another of her viral hits, is still getting used to this whole global pop-star thing. She sounds euphoric, yet exhausted. Optimistic, but slightly terrified.

“I’m so happy and proud,” Tyla says of her breakout year. “But at the same time, it is a lot of pressure because people are now looking at you like, ‘So, what next? What else are you going to do?’” Luckily for us, as Tyla explains, she’s got plenty more to show the world.

You made a deal with your parents that if you didn’t make a music career happen within a year, you would finish college. At what point did you go, “See…”

I would have to say it was the rise of “Water,” just seeing how that song crossed over not only in South Africa but the world. That song traveled so far, my parents found it really weird. They were in shock. Them watching me win a Grammy was also a moment where I feel like it really sunk in for not only myself but them too.

Can they feel your success back home?

I got this one DM from this person who was like, “I’m such a big fan. Your music is so inspiring. I’m so happy — by the way, I met your mom.” And then there’s a whole picture of my mother with this fan! I was like, “Ma, when did you do this?” And she’s like, “They ask me for pictures, too, Tyla.” I feel like my mom loves it. That was a little bit strange, but I thought it was cool.

Was there a particular vision of pop stardom that spoke to you growing up?

I never really studied specific artists. Whatever songs, performances, music videos I liked, I just obsessed over those individual things. It was very broad. Pop stars, rappers, R&B singers. It started with the sound of music I wanted to make, because I knew that I wanted to do something completely different from what I’ve heard before. I was making anything and everything. I have full-on rap songs. Full-on R&B. Full-on amapiano. I played a lot and found a mixture that felt like me.

Wait, what does a Tyla rap song sound like?

I’m not going to lie, it’s hot. I’m excited to show people that I’m more diverse than they think. I want to take my time with my artistry and give whatever feels right for that moment. So one day, you’re going to get that Tyla rap song.

Are you in the studio right now?

Every day I can be in the studio, I’m there. I’m working on the new project currently. I’m super excited because even though I love my debut album, I feel like a totally different person. Everything that has happened forced me to grow very fast. I’m also the type of person that gets bored very easily. So I’m excited to see this new version of me and hear what it sounds like and just have fun with it — just bring back fun in music.

What feels the most different about you now?

I used to feel like I needed to control every little thing, like I needed to make sure that I wasn’t giving too many emotions away. Even when it came down to my back injury [that led to the cancellation of my 2024 world tour], I didn’t want people to know. I just wanted to keep my private life private and share my music and [have that be] enough. But I realized that it’s not.

What changed?

Outside of all of this, I don’t speak about my business. Like, don’t ask me — I’m dealing with it by myself! I’m that type of person. But I started loosening up a little bit making this first album. I feel like with “To Last” [a song about the sting of first heartbreak], I convinced myself to release it because I was like, “Oh, my sister, my friend were going through this.” I made it like it was about them. But it’s something that is really deep for me — I literally sang that in the shower. At the end of the day, [my fans] the Tygers, they care about me and really want to know what’s going on. And you have to be vulnerable in order to give the best art.

“I took on a lot of that pressure, and it made me very dissociated, like I’m just watching these amazing things happen to me.”

Your rise coincides with a shift in attention toward music from across the African continent. Beyond your own success, what greater cultural change are you hoping to contribute to?

I’ve always wanted to see somebody from where I’m from do what I’m doing: being on a Grammy stage, performing at these big award shows, coming to the Met Gala and all these dramatic things that we used to watch people in Hollywood doing. I just want more of us there. And for it to be easier — for all of us to have the same fair chance. Because I remember how hard it was just to be seen. Like, I was DMing everybody. I was doing the most.

What would true representation look like in your mind?

Honestly, I would love to see an African artist — even if the artist isn’t born and raised on the continent — make African music without pop influences, just true African music. I would love to see that be as global as pop music is one day. Even if it isn’t me [doing it], I think it would be a really exciting thing. But for me as an artist, I just want to make whatever feels good. And I don’t want to feel like if one day it changes, then I’m leaving behind my heritage or I’m disregarding my influences and inspirations. Because ultimately I’m an African girl, and I’m always going to be. So regardless of what I do, it’s going to be a representation of that.

There’s a lot of pressure when you’re the first person to do something. How have you dealt with that?

Last year I took on a lot of that pressure, and it made me very dissociated a lot of the time. I would feel like I’m just watching these amazing things happen to me. I worried that one day all I worked for might be taken away. But as the year went by, I got to a place where I felt like that’s not in my control. I’m just moving the way I want to move and whatever happens, happens. I want to take risks and not be afraid. If it doesn’t work? Whatever. If it does work? Even better. I just want to know that I lived this life doing whatever I wanted to do, without [worrying about] what people thought I should be doing.

You had a winking reference to South Africa’s ongoing energy crisis in one of your first late-night performances. There’s someone reading this who has no idea about “load shedding” — rolling blackouts where the country’s state-owned power utility shuts off service to ease electrical capacity. Can you tell me about growing up with that?

We South Africans are so unserious. We have memes and jokes for days about load shedding. Obviously, it has a big impact. Studying was so hard. We had to find random lights, use our phone flashes to study. When we would explain it to people, they’d be like, “What?! The lights just switch off?” And it’s like, “Yeah...” We even have an app that tells us what time it’s going to switch off and everything. Even though it was difficult, people had it way worse than us.

Do you hear from folks back home after doing something like that?

Yes! I love hiding little Easter eggs from my culture. I love incorporating that into my performances and my visuals. Like the load shedding thing — it was obviously a joke at first, but then we were like, “No, actually, that’ll be nice to add in because the South Africans will watch it and be like, ‘My girl, she’s really taking us with her.’” It’s a good feeling to show the world little pieces of where I’m from.

If you could take fans to one place in Johannesburg to help them understand you and your music, where would it be?

I would take you guys to CBD [the central business district]. When I was younger, my mom used to take three, five taxis in order to get there, and she would take me all the time. We would go shopping because the clothes and stuff there were way cheaper. I just remember always being excited to go there and seeing how busy the streets are. You can hear our music playing loud. You can hear our accents, people shouting, taxis driving crazy. I would take people there because that feels like how my dance music feels, I think.

The first time you left your home country was after you signed your record deal in 2021.

I remember landing in Dubai and being like, “This is fake. Somebody drew this land and made it up. How is this real?” It’s insane.

What has been the biggest discovery you’ve come across in your travels?

I used to think that people wouldn’t get my humor or I wouldn’t be able to have proper conversations with people. They might not get me — the accent, the slang, the jokes. I really enjoy American people, their humor. Americans are so funny. And I feel like my friends that I’ve made in America, I didn’t know that I would be able to have such a bond because I thought, culturewise, there would be that disconnect.

What’s surprised you the most about American culture?

Americans are more blunt, which I like, because people need to be blunt. It’s refreshing. Like if I say something wrong, if I do something wrong, people are going to check me, and that’s fine, and I can do the same thing. We can just talk, we can swear, we can do whatever, and it’s just normal. In Africa, as a woman, you have to be very demure and polite and soft-spoken — the men are the priority and all these things. It’s cool and all, but when I came to America, I was like, “Yeah, this is nice.”

“Your 20s are a time when you let loose and go out and get friends and go through drama. I don’t want to let that pass me by and not have that.”

You’re in Paris now. What would be your perfect day off?

Shopping, definitely. Shopping in the streets, going to boutique stores.

Are you still able to be anonymous, or do you get stopped everywhere?

Yeah, no. [Laughs.] I can’t be anonymous anywhere, low-key.

Have you had a favorite fashion moment of your own this past year?

Obviously the Met Gala is always going to be insane. Like, what?! But I really enjoyed my VMA after-party look [a ripped-denim design by fashion student Ishan You] because it felt like me and nothing I really saw before.

What else do you like to do in your downtime?

I play this chess app whenever I can. I’m addicted.

Just regular chess?

Yes. It’s not that interesting! [Laughs.] One day someone taught me how to play, and I was hooked. Whenever there’s extra time, I’m on that app.

From Instagram, it seems like you have a sweet friendship with your fellow fashionista Lisa, from Blackpink — you collaborated on her new album. What have you learned from industry peers like her?

This world is definitely not easy to navigate, especially if you don’t have somebody that relates. It’s very hard to explain [your life] and get advice from people that aren’t in this world because people really don’t understand how things are. Even though a lot of people may love you and care for you, you can’t always go to them because they may give you great advice in their context, but they never fully get the picture.

What’s the best advice you’ve received about navigating your 20s in the spotlight?

Someone told me that everybody gets a chance to love their 20s. Your 20s are a time when you just have fun. You let loose and go out and get friends and go through drama. You’re more reckless with life — obviously in a safe way. I don’t want to let that pass me by and not have that. Even though I’m this pop star, I don’t care. I don’t want to look back and be like, “Oh, I spent my 20s worried about @Susan12345 saying I’m mad.”

What did the @Susan12345s of the world have to say?

Oh my gosh. Where do I even start? Even though I know the people around me know that it’s rubbish, I feel like with how closed off I was, I can understand how things could come off a way. So I don’t get really mad about it anymore because I’m like, “Tyla, you can’t be mad if you didn’t want to show people the real you.” I was really afraid because I just felt so different. Like maybe I would say something wrong or do something wrong because there’s a big culture difference. I was kind of walking on eggshells a bit. But now, man, I don’t know. If people think I’m a diva [or think] I’m this, they must think that based on the real me, rather than the version of me that I was trying to be.

What do you wish more people asked you?

Because I’m the first to do a lot of things out of Africa, I feel like a lot of the questions people ask me are centered around that. And I want to be asked more about me. I want to be asked more about Tyla. What does Tyla want to do? What’s Tyla’s vision? I don’t want to always be asked, like, “What are you going to do for Africa?” Just ask me about me.

Where do you hope to be one year from now?

I really want to be the best artist that I can be. When you have a lot of pressure, it makes you feel like you need to live up to what people expect. A year from now, I want to be making whatever I want to make, doing whatever I want to do — regardless of the pressures. That’s where I want to see myself next year.

Top image credits: Michael Kors blazer, Stylist’s own hat and stay-ups, FEMME LA shoes